Hydraulic power transmission mechanism



April 27, 1937. J. M. BEAUMONT 2,078,597

- HYDRAULIC POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Nov. 23, 1953 s Sheets-She't 1 April 27, 193 7.

J. M. BEAUMONT HYDRAULIC POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed NQV. 25, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 p l 1937- J. M. BEAUMONT 1 2,078,597

HYDRAULIC POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM Filed Nov. 25, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ezz/erz Z01. (JO-HIV I17 Ban/M01.

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Patented Apr. 27, 1937 I 2,078,597

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE HYDRAULIC POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM John Murray Beaumont, Huddersfield, England Application November 23, 1933, Serial No. 699,459

In Great Britain November 25, 1932 l 4 Claims. (CI. 60-54) The invention relates to hydraulic coupling or Fig. 4' is a sectional elevation of an embodiment power transmission means of the type in which including means for obtaining a reverse drive. driving and driven bladed members are coupled Referring firstly to Fig. 1, 0. represents the hydraulically by centrifugal action imparted to driving shaft, and b the primary or driving blad- 5 liquid by the rotation of the driving member. ed member. The secondary or driven bladed 5 The invention has for its object to construct member is shown at c and the driven shaft, which a coupling 'of this character in which the speed is aligned with the driving shaft, at d. The of rotation transmitted to the driven member driven member c carries or has secured to it a may be infinitely variable down to zero, whilst eeve a d end Pla 02 which, With the said if desired provision may be added for enabling driven member co sti ute a casi formin a 10 the direction of rotation of the driven member working chamber eanda reserv ir 7''- Th ca in to be reversed. is supported in bearings g, g, and the driving The invention is characterized primarily in that haf p ss s th u h Stufilng be?! h in the end the driving and driven bladed members are so Pl constructed and arranged that axial movement e nd of the drivin shaft is i 'n a 15 of one of the said members in relation to the d in the inner end of the driven member 0, other will cause the blades of the driven memand the boss of the driving m r 17 1 p n her to be, as it were, gradually screened or shut 0n the d v n Sh t s Shown a 2 ofi? so as to reduce and finally to close altogether A division Well 03 in the casing Separates the 20 communication between the blades of the two w in ham r eandthe r se o r lith letter 20 members. being in the form of a cylinder surrounding and In addition to the screening or shutting-oil concentric W h the driving h f action occasioned by the relative axial movement A plate 13 carried by the ner nds of rods between the two bladed members such movement 1 which extend slidably thr the division may also be arranged to open up a, transfer paswall 1: and end plate 0 is connected to the driv- 25 sage or passages between the chamber in which member 17 by means of a ring which 18 the bladed members work and a suitable reservoir, cured t0 the member 17 a v l p h p p so that simultaneously with the screening or erel Portion f he P e 1'- An end-thrust bearshutting-ofi of the blades of the driven member 8 18 P vi W n h Plate i nd th 3a the continued rotation of the driving member member a bearings 11, 9' are P e in will cause liquid to be discharged from the work- (11 123 Well C3 and end p at 02 for t e drivin chamber to the reservoir. 2 S g ar e nter fitifiit iiit iitiiiffiiti'liiffiii iit Of'uiin ewor'ngcamrws e i clutch is running can be controlled at will; 9. the lnhel end of the reservoir With e P pheral 35 constant circulation of liquid'take place through inner Surface of h e n chamber The the working chamber and the reservgi'twhile 1tie ifig gz iggv 2 13:2 aeggvfiiliiorgall giglggagd clutch is running; communication ween e a w s reservoir and the working chamber be automati-- V01! 1 need not'be an absolutely t h fi but only 40 cally shut off when the coupling is idle; by which a reasonably tight ng 40 liquid can be re-admitted in controlled quantity The Plate i fits With a Suitable amount of P 6: to the working chamber to permit of easy reas? 1 1 t l' l i b g f itg g b starting of the engine before the automatic cirm t e 'g im are move 9 8 culation of liquid begins; and by which a reverse is; 2 i s g g 0 move 45 drive can be obtained if desired When the driving member is in fully opera- In the accmpenymg drawings- 'tive position, as shown in the drawings, with its Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of one embodiblades positioned fully opposite the blades & ment o t l h f and of the driven member, the piston is closes commu-. Fig. 2 1s a slmll r VleW 9 an alternative nication between the passages c and the reser- 50 bodiment corresponding generally to that shown voir 7 in Fig. 1, but difieringa little in arrangement; In thi position of the parts, liquid has flowed Fig. 3 is a sectional elevationof an embodiment into the pump through the usual openings :1: in including a reservoir for the liquid separate from the wall b or otherwise, and the centrifugal acbut connected to the clutch; and tion set up by the driving member causes the driven member to be rotated. If the driving member is moved axially, communication between its bladed passages and those of the driven member commences to be blanked ofi and the quantity of liquid permitted to act on the driven member is gradually reduced until finally the driven member is completely screened or blanked oil and the drive consequently stops. Simultaneously with the screeningoif the blades of the driven member'the' transfer passages c commence to be opened up and the liquid which otherwise would have acted on the driven member is discharged into the reservoir. As previously'mentioned, the .axial movement of the piston is commences slightly before that of the driving member.

When it is desired to start from rest the inward movement of the piston 70 first causes a quantity of liquid to be returned from the reservoir f back through passages c and the additional openings c that may be provided in partition into the working chamber e through passages :c to the blades 1) of the driven member band the driving working chamber e and the reservoir 1 is gradually cut off. Although the driving member b and piston k are described as being movable together they may, if preferred, be arranged to be operable independently.

Openings 0 may be provided in the division wall 0 to permit of the quick return of liquid to the working chamber.

In the arrangement shown at Fig. 2, as will be seen from the drawings, the only real difference from that shown in Fig. 1 is that the driving shaft a passes through the driven member 0 and, has its inner endjournalled in the division wall 0 whilst the driven shaft is.connected to the end plate 0 of the casing,

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the general arrangement corresponds substantially to that shown in Fig. '2, but instead of a reservoir for liquid being constituted in the casing, and the transfer passages being controlled by a piston, a separate reservoir m is employed. In this instance, the transfer ports 0 are connected by passages such as n in the end plate 0 to an annular port 0 formed in a sleeve 0' surrounding the boss 0 of the end plate and connected by a pipe p to the lower end of the reservoir m.

A cap 1' flanged outwardly at its lower end as at r is adapted to sit upon the end of the pipe 1),

' inside the reservoir, and when so seated to form a closure to a series of openings 8 in the base of the tank, such openings communicating with a chamber t constituted around the pipe 10 immediately below the reservoir and connected by a pipe 2: with a second annular port 0 in the sleeve 0 from which second annular port a passage or series of passages such as 0 lead back into the working chamber towards the centre of the same.

A piston m in the reservoir is suitably controlled as to its position, and it may be operated by compressed air, or by electricity, or hydraulically or mechanically as may be preferred.

The capacity of the reservoir m is suitably proportioned to that of the working chamber, so that by appropriate adjustment of the piston m the quantity of liquid retained in the working chamberwhen the clutch is running can be regulated.

When the clutch is running the centrifugal pressure on the liquid in the working chamber causes the cap member r to be raised clear of the openings s leading to the return flow pipeu so that liquid passing back to the working chamber through the central passage or passages v, a constant circulation of the liquid thus being maintained.

When the clutch stops or is slowed down to a speed at which the pressure of liquid in the reservoir is greater than that produced by centrifugal action in the working chamber, the cap 1" falls and the liquid in the tank is prevented from returning to the working chamber.

For restarting purposes it may be arranged that a determined quantity of liquid is retained in the working chamber when the clutch is stopped, or piston m may be raised to lift by suction the cap r to release and a quantity of liquid to be returned to the working chamber. It will be seen that restarting can be made an easy matter since only the minimum of liquid may be present in or be returned to the working chamber at this time, a feature of considerable advantage in large clutches. r

The driving member I) may have peripheral blades or throwers 12 (see Fig. 3) to assist in forcing the liquid through the transfer ports 0 It will be apparent that in any of the embodiments herein described and illustrated the driving member might be stationary and the driven member be movable axially in relation thereto.

In the embodiment shown at Fig. 4 an intermediate bladed member 10 is interposed in any well known manner between the driving and driven members b and e, such intermediate member being controlled by a typical brake band w, which may be forced into engagement with the periphery of member w by any suitable means, (not shown) to retard its rotation either partially or completely.

If rotation of the member to is retarded the action of the fluid on the blades of the driven member is such as to slow down the rotation of the latter whilst if the rotation of the member 10 is retarded beyond a determined point, or is completely arrested, the direction of the streams of liquid emerging from it will be such as either to stop rotation of the driven member or cause the direction of its rotation to be reversed.

In this instance the sleeve 0' is secured to one side of the intermediate bladed member to and a cap member is secured to the other side of the said intermediate member. A working chamber e and reservoir are provided as in the other forms of the invention.

In the device of Figures 3 and 4 the fluid gets to the blades b through the space between 0' and b; and also opening a: may be provided in the member b as mentioned in connection with Figs. 1 and 2.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. Ahydraulic power transmission mechanism of the class described comprising driving and driven bladed members, one of said bladed members being retractable from the other, an unbladed portion of the second bladed member providing a motive fluid chamber arranged to receive the retractable bladed member when the same is retracted, said chamber providing 'fiuid communication to the blades of said retractable member, said unbladed portion of said second member also serving to gradually screen from each other the blades of said members as the first member is retracted into the chamber of the second member whereby to gradually out off the sages receiving and transferring to said reservoir fluid from the blades of said first member when the same has been retracted, and said partition ports retransferring fluid to said first member blades through said chamber whereby to maintain a circuit when the blades of said first member are in cooperative relationship with said passages.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, and including an operating member for advancing and retracting said first bladed member and having a lost motion connection therewith, a piston fixedly carried by said operating member and located in said reservoir, said piston arranged to seal the reservoir ends of said passages when the blades of said members are in fully operative relationship, and said piston moving in advance of said first-mentioned bladed member whereby to open up communicationbetween said chamber and reservoir before said first bladed member commences to move to blade screening position and also to return fluid to said chamber from said reservoir before the blades of said retractable member are moved toward unscreened position so as to assure of an adequate supply of fluid to the blades of said members when they come into operative relationship.

3. A hydraulic power transmission mechanism of the class described comprising driving and driven members having blades, one of said bladed members being retractable from the other, an unbladed portion of the second bladed member providing a motive fluid chamber arranged to receive said retractable bladed member when the same is retracted, said chamber providing fluid communication to the blades of the retractable member, said unbladed portion of said second bladed member also serving to screen the blades of said members from each other when the first member is retracted into the motive fluid chamber of the second member whereby to gradually cut ofi the fluid from the driving to the driven bladed member when the retraction takes place, a reservoir, a pipe connection from the peripheral part of said chamber to said reservoir, a valve member in said reservoir adapted to be opened by the entry of liquid into the reservoir under centrifugal action when the driven member is in operation and to close when said member is stationary, and a return pipe connection between said reservoir and chamber and controlled by said valve so that whilst the driven member is in operation a constant circulation of liquid takes place through said chamber and reservoir.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 and means to vary the effective capacity of said reservoir and to unseat said valve when the driven member is stationary.

JOHN M. BEAUMONT. 

